


Keeping Up with the Koganes

by pedalprince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Friendship, Gay Keith (Voltron), Krolia (Voltron) is a Good Parent, M/M, Team Voltron Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-07-20 14:57:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16139642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pedalprince/pseuds/pedalprince
Summary: AU where Keith’s family is totally fine otherwise canon is the same (and Keith brings his boyfriend Lance home for dinner) - can the family handle what life throws at them?





	1. Night of Frights

**Author's Note:**

> This will get more wholesome after this "episode" I swear - just got inspired to start with heavier stuff. I don't wanna erase the hurt Keith went through, but a friend came up with this idea and I figured I'd play with the day-to-day adventures of the Koganes post-final battle. What's waiting for them?
> 
> SPOILERS FOR LATER SEASONS AHEAD! SORRY FORGOT TO WARN PEOPLE...
> 
> Will continue whenever I have the whim to write/if anyone is interested in more.

“Keith, can you put the dishes away?” Krolia requested. Her voice echoed that of all  _ calm-unless-you-lazily-say-no _ mothers throughout time with perfection.

At this, Keith rose slowly from his comfortable cross-legged position on the couch. Following the final battle with the Galran Empire, things had calmed down significantly. The paladins were currently taking a break from their work with the Galaxy Garrison, but were due to return as a special fighter force with Shiro as strategist. Pidge would be starting assistant research with her dad that spring, and Hunk was doubling efforts on engineering. Shiro happily settled with a professorship (which of course no one blamed him for), and Coran and Allura were the only ones who made the decision to return quickly to exploring space. They admitted that they felt restless, but paid Earth visits very frequently. It seemed that even with all of this going on, the group found that they were happiest together and going on missions, which Keith was deeply relieved to know. It felt like he was finally part of something when they were all in one place. Like they were a family. At this thought, Keith idly picked up a few plates and smiled.

The chill air of fall was beginning to descend upon east Texas (or, well, as much as it can that far south). Lance, who had gotten significantly closer to Keith since the war’s explosive conclusion, was arriving at any moment. He was still a kid at heart, insisting that he come over for Halloween and a family party with everyone. He whisked into the door with vampire fangs and a cape, a bubbly grin on his face. He grabbed a starburst from the bowl at the door and wrapped Keith in a warm hug. Keith, who was holding the aforementioned plates, reached behind his boyfriend to put them on the counter before they broke. Keith twisted around like a pretzel, sending Lance into a flurry as he tried not to fall backward. The ensuing chaos made Krolia roll her eyes in amusement before she disappeared into the bedroom.

When she left, down came Keith’s dad, a big, burly man with an energy not unlike the sun. He patted Lance on the back in greeting and grabbed his coffee mug from the counter, glugging down a gulp.

“How was Cuba, Chance?”

Lance laughed. “It was nice to spend time with my family after so many years, but I’m ready to be back here with my team!”

At this, Keith leaned forward slightly, his eyes seeming to stare right into Lance’s soul with precision. It was as if he was asking, _ ‘And?’ _

Lance pretended not to notice and proceeded to walk over to the ringing door instead. Keith, unafraid to show that he was a bit irritated, grabbed Lance’s shoulder as he departed. Lance paused and turned, squeezing Keith’s hand and placing it back at his side with a warm look. Keith gazed on as Lance opened the door to a freezing Shiro, who gratefully slipped inside. Keith’s face went red at the thought of imagining Lance being a permanent fixture in the Kogane home, and he returned to the chore in front of him to desperately dismiss his imagination.

Pidge, Matt, their parents, Hunk, his parents, and a little dog that Shay had adopted all flooded into the house over the following hours. Though it was small, everyone found a place to sit, including the floor. Allura and Coran arrived last, bringing a gigantic bowl of food goo and the story of their most recent adventure. Lance, who was used to being around, politely allowed the others to take the seats and played with the dog in the main living area. Hunk suddenly pointed out how Keith had left up his collage from when they first met, and everyone began discussing memory lane in a blur of voices. It started to overwhelm Keith a bit, and as the last cup disappeared into the worn wood cabinet, he went to talk to his mom.

Krolia was busily flipping through bills and talking to someone on the phone. A strange sense overwhelmed Keith as he watched her. It was uncomfortable, as if something painful was reaching out at him, and he gently pushed the feeling aside. Keith elected eventually to sit on the edge of the bed once the feeling had passed. With somewhat divided attention, Krolia nodded and waved an instruction to close the door at him. 

It was always strange how parents and kids seemed to have their own language.

Keith sat there fiddling with his fingers in silence as he waited for her to finish. When she hung up, she looked at her son in curiosity. “Aren’t you going to go spend time at the party? I’ll be down soon. I just needed to call the Garrison, send a message to the Blades.”

Ever since she had elected to stay in Texas with the family, Krolia had still been a beacon of correspondence and an Earth rep of sorts for the Blade of Marmora. She had initially planned to leave, but she said wistfully that something in the eyes of her husband and son made her change her mind. She was a tough, stubborn, and restless person regardless, and often wandered into the desert on her motorbike, riding for hours to clear her head before going home.

“...Mom, are you happy? Having to stay here.”

Krolia looked surprised for a moment, then smiled slowly. “I guess I’m too restless for this life. I’ll admit that. My thought was that leaving was the best way to protect you both, but… I hope you know that it was a choice to stay, too. I don’t want to regret having my family.”

Something about what she said made his heart prickle again, and Keith winced. He looked at her as if she was going to disappear in front of him. Some sort of all encompassing fear enveloped him in an instant, and like a child he lurched forward and hugged her tightly. Krolia held him and brushed his hair softly without saying another word.

-

Keith had fallen asleep, and the party wrapped up in a whirl of laughter and take-out of the Kogane family’s infamous shoyu brisket and ribs. Everyone wished Keith a friendly greeting on their way out, and Lance remained behind to check on him. Lance lived at the Garrison and was training further, but he was a regular at the Kogane house and essentially felt like a second host. No one seemed surprised that he didn’t join the group’s return walk. He took off his costume and slipped into one of Keith's old t-shirts before peeking in.

When Lance opened the door, a napping Keith and Krolia were wrapped up in the comforter on the bed. Lance looked on with a loving gaze before closing the door quietly. Even Keith’s dad had fallen asleep on the couch outside, a Budweiser beer can crunched up at his side. He was snoring loudly, and it made Lance snicker before he grabbed his coat and whisked out.

Of course, this is when the trouble began…

-

Lance suddenly stopped feeling well as soon as his face met with the chilled, dry air outside. He had managed to walk a mile or two before his vision got blurry, and he began to cough so much that he couldn’t stay standing up. He realized too late that his body ached all over, and he managed to take a few more steps before he groaned and his vision went dark.

The following morning, Keith had elected to go grocery shopping on his mom’s orders. Out of concern she had also asked him to go with Lance, but he had disappeared and left no message. Figuring that he had gone with their friends, Keith went on to the closest store on foot with a list in hand. He decided to walk today, as there was decidedly better weather than the entirety of the past week. 

This turned out to be a fateful decision: he soon came across the motionless body of Lance McClain, covered in a light layer of sand.

In horror, Keith picked up Lance’s body and listened for the sound of his heart. It was beating normally, but Lance was terribly cold. Keith was trying not to explode as he turned tail back to his house, nearly knocking the door down. Keith’s dad was reading a paper and dropped his bowl in shock as his son ran inside.

"Keith?!"


	2. Morning

Lance lay quietly on the couch in the main room, the sun filtering down onto his face in little golden bands. He looked oddly peaceful for someone who had been rushed in the door with so much fear and concern.

Keith’s parents were the only ones home. Keith himself was out in the desert, doing quite exactly what his mother often did when she was feeling helpless. He rode his motorbike over the desert landscape aimlessly and at top speed, his hair whipping in the wind. It felt really dramatic to leave in a flurry after causing panic, but Keith genuinely did not know what to do with his feelings of guilt and worry and needed to burn off the energy.

He wasn’t the type to cry, but he was very much on the verge of snapping. Removing himself was the only way he could handle his emotions. Patience yields focus, he repeated in his head.

_Patience. Yields. Focus._

It was only after over an hour that Keith came home, being greeted warmly by the smell of his dad’s cooking. Today’s meal was miso mackerel and a healthy helping of bread rolls from the local chicken place.

(The owner had become good friends with them as one of the only local residential families, so naturally the bread was a Kogane staple.)

Lance had woken up and was presented a plate gingerly by Krolia as Keith slipped his jacket and shoes off in the doorway. When he glanced over at his boyfriend in worry, Lance only smiled. “Welcome back.”

Keith stuffed an entire roll in his mouth in response and parked very pointedly at the foot of the couch, where he made room in for himself. Lance laughed softly, his voice still hoarse.

“So, Keith... this might not be a great time to be mentioning this, but your dad and I have been thinking for a long time about the possibility of a family vacation. Are you interested? The paladins can come.”

Krolia naturally asked all of this from two rooms away, but could be heard perfectly, in a rather mom-like fashion. Keith raised his eyebrows. “To where?”

“Galveston. Your dad wants to tour around, see the sea wall, spend time with us.” At this, there was sound of her clacking around in her bedroom. Keith smiled a bit in amusement.

“That... sounds good.”

“When Lance gets better, we can leave within the week. It’d be good to get packing. Make sure he takes his medicine. I’m going to take care of some business with the Garrison. The leftovers are in the fridge, and...”

Keith cared about Krolia deeply, but he zoned out in the middle of her talking and just nodded to appease her as she left. When he turned back to Lance, the sick patient of the family had gone immediately back to sleep, still clutching the plate with the roll half eaten. Keith slipped the plate carefully out of Lance’s grip and went to the kitchen to throw it away.

He gazed out quietly at the sunset, painting the sky with bands of vibrant yellow, pink, and orange. He smiled a bit and then moved on to the bedroom, where he flopped into his parents’ bed and immediately went to sleep.

It was another quiet night in the Kogane household, but there would certainly be more in store for them...what will happen when the paladins go on vacation?

-

Lance’s recovery had been extremely slow. He was weak for so long that Krolia was tempted to check him into the hospital, and there was family discussion over it as well as a phone call made to his mother in Cuba. The group went on like this in circles until Krolia decided to contact the Garrison doctors.

After talking with them for a good hour, Krolia concluded that Lance’s condition was partly due to the battering his body had endured during his time as a paladin. His body in particular was weaker than it was in the past, and unfortunately the cryopods had been damaged and remained broken. It was unsurprisingly concerning for everyone involved, and the circles once again erupted into discussion. It was finally agreed on that the beach trip would continue, especially because Lance insisted. And so on a day that he was feeling a bit better, the group made their way to Galveston Island.

Lance slept soundly on Keith’s shoulder in the middle row, and the other 3 were stuffed rather unceremoniously in the back. Hunk and Pidge were absorbed in science talk, and Shiro was trying to read a newspaper in the dim light. Coran was chastising him while driving, and Allura was ignoring them all and wearing both a face mask and ear plugs for maximum effect.

A storm had set in at the last minute, but the team was stubborn. As the grey waves lashed out at the shore in a froth, the group excitedly began to plan a ghost tour and their meal. The rain poured down in sheets, making it impossible to see anything but the shadows of the swampland and the occasional lightning strike brightening the sky.

Lance shifted in his seat, murmuring quietly. His head burrowed a bit more into Keith, who was very ginger in reaching out for and holding Lance’s hand. Lance’s hand sent a soft warmth into Keith, who leaned into his boyfriend and gazed out at the darkness of the Texan dawn. _A half hour to go._


	3. Lance Unsolved

As everyone chaotically settled into their own rooms in the hotel, the buzz of loud group conversation filled the eerie hall with lively energy. It went without saying that someone was going to bring up ghost stories - it was part of the nighttime arrival tradition.

“This place has so much history! You guys have to read this!” Pidge said with fascination.

“Don’t look in any mirrors tonight.” Hunk added cryptically, pulling out his own history guide to the town.

Shiro rolled his eyes, laughing. “Ghosts aren’t real, everyone. Make sure you get some good rest for tomorrow --  _ that includes you _ , Keith, Lance.”

The couple froze in front of the elevator, looking up and making eye contact with Shiro from a distance. Lance smiled awkwardly as if attempting to diffuse the situation, and Krolia tapped Shiro, leaning closer.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re going ghost hunting, but they’ll be fine. You said it yourself - ghosts aren’t real.”

“Yes, but there’s other--”

Before Shiro could finish his sentence, Pidge was dragging Hunk along, holding a video camera and chattering on excitedly about Buzzfeed Unsolved and the town’s many haunted locations. Shiro sighed and rubbed his forehead, muttering something about taking a nap before disappearing into his single room. Krolia shrugged and slipped her hand into her husband’s, chatting about the room service menu and winking his way about the selection of wine and beer. Coran headed towards the elevator, plenty curious about the rest of the hotel. Meanwhile, the paladins slipped into the dark night, unaware of what was to come…

-

Allura sighed, tapping a flickering flashlight. “Honestly, I don’t get what you’re all afraid of after everything that happened in space! Is this not your home planet?”

Lance whirled around, pointing his finger in warning. “If we talk too loud we’ll wake up the spirits! And they’re totally real - you don’t mess with them!”

“It’s said that in the Harry House, you can still see the ghosts of the family that lived there during the 1800s.” Pidge read aloud. “They say that if you sit in the head chair in the dining room, they’ll pull the chair out from under you or drag you across the room! Some visitors say they’ve seen their plates move if they sat in the other spots. Anyone wanna try the head chair?”

“On it.” Lance said seriously, his eyes alive with excitement.

Keith squeezed Lance’s hand in disapproval, and Lance huffed. “Hey! I’ll be fine. I’m still--”

At that moment, Lance sneezed, and an intense wind blew. The lights all the way down the residential street went out, and Keith drew his bayard instinctively. There was no sight of any other pedestrians or cars. Everyone pulled out flashlights, and Keith and Lance shuffled a little closer together, their hands holding tight.

“Everyone still here?” Keith called out, unable to see anyone clearly.

“Yep.”

“Uhh…”

“Can anyone hand me a light? This one seems to be broken.”

“...I guess that’s a yes.” Keith finally said, continuing on. Lance pulled up his phone flashlight, and everyone followed in a line down the road. The wind was biting and cold, and as time passed, everyone realized that they hadn’t seen the main road in over half an hour, suddenly coming to another stop.

“Can anyone pull up a map?”

“I can.” Pidge answered, glasses glowing as she pulled up a screen. However, her screen was just colored bars.

She looked up worriedly, closing it with a soft whir. “No signal.”

“No signal?! Aren’t we in the middle of the town?” Lance wailed.

“There could be some sort of interference of signals. Maybe that’s why the lights went out just now.” Hunk guessed, his teeth chattering.

“Better that than anything else.” Keith responded, once again ushering everyone into motion. They went on for a little bit longer before they arrived at the house Pidge had mentioned before, the ever grand Harry House. It stood intimidatingly before them, porch lights on and old Victorian wooden frame bearing a regality that didn’t quite seem inviting.

“Are we even allowed in at 11 at night?” Hunk wondered aloud, walking up the steps.

“Doubt it.” Pidge responded, a tinge of excitement in her voice. “But I heard there were late night tours today. Maybe we can catch them and ask if we can look.”

As if on cue, a tour guide popped their head out of the front door, looking at the group in confusion. “Are you part of the 11:30 tour?”

“Can we add on right now?”

The tour guide paused before nodding. “I’m sure it’s fine. Just pay your fee at some point, I’d hate to leave you out here. It’s so hot!”

When the last sentence left their mouth, the paladins looked at each other as if they had all heard the same thing. But since they were desperate to get out of the bad weather, they shuffled in as the guide closed the door behind them. It made a loud, banging noise, but when Pidge stared at it, she noticed that it was the kind of material that should have hardly made any noise at all. She squinted in suspicion, but tailed the group and walked on.

As they turned into the dining room, the group began to chat excitedly. The other people on the tour were also looking at the plates, as if waiting for them to pull a number like in Beauty and the Beast.

“All we’re missing is the candelabra!” A middle aged dad said cheerily, causing the room to erupt briefly into an amused buzz.

“Alright, alright.” The tour guide said, quieting them all down. “As you all know, this dining room is the center of the action. But if any of you watch Buzzfeed Unsolved, you’ll know that ghosts often don’t show up if we’re trying too hard to find them. That’s why on this version of the tour, each party will get ONE flashlight and 20 minutes to explore the house on your own. Let us know if you find anything! Or… if you make it out at all. Best of luck!”

The tour guide handed Lance the flashlight before the crowd dispersed. The families and groups of college kids trailed up and down the stairs, and eventually the paladins were the only group remaining in the dining room.

“This… is what we have been waiting for!” Pidge said, trying to lose herself in the house lore and calm down.

_ It’s probably nothing. _

“Lance!” Keith snapped, but it was too late.

Lance McClain took the coveted spot at the head of the table, picking up a fork and twirling it between his fingers. “See? Nothing. You worry too much! Have a seat.”

Keith grumbled and sat next to Lance, gingerly rejoining their hands. Lance’s face went a little red before he cleared his throat and jokingly pretended to clink glasses with his boyfriend. Keith smiled and returned the gesture, forgetting for a minute that the meal wasn’t real before accidentally swallowing dust. He began coughing, and the paladins, naturally, immediately lost it.

“Who knows what’s in that?!” Pidge choked out, crying with laughter.

“They clearly don’t clean this place.” Hunk observed, tears forming in his eyes.

“I… um… have a bottle of water if you need it, Keith.” Allura added on sympathetically.

Keith accepted the water gratefully and glared at his team as he took big gulps. As he finished the water off, they noticed something filtering through the window in the room.

“Sunlight.”

“Wasn’t it… basically midnight?”

“Maybe they had those color changing panes or something?”

“Those came out in 2024. This was 1884.”

“Oh. Right.”

“...I _knew_ something was weird in here.”

As Pidge muttered that sentence, the window changed back to night, and the paladins looked around to find Lance missing, along with the chair at the front of the table. Keith stood quickly, his expression fiery.

“Alright, what’s going on?!”

The tour guide rounded the corner, and the group immediately drew their weapons. Pidge forgot the video camera on the plate in front of her seat, unknowingly capturing the whole event.

The tour guide launched at them with her blade, eyes red and mouth frothing with yellow liquid. The entire team burst into battle mode, dodging her attacks and trying to get out of the house. They managed to roll out the front door before Keith whirled around and ran back inside.

_ “Lance!” _

_ “Oh, no.” _

Everyone ran in after him, but the house was completely dark. They stood in the dining room, weapons glowing. After a few more minutes, Lance’s footsteps came down the hallway, and he walked in with a paper plate and a few sandwiches.

“Hey, guys. Hey, Keith. I brought some food from upstairs. That’s why we didn’t see anyone!”

“How did you…?”

“The tour guide! It turns out this house is run by an alien-human coalition. They figure one way to bring in tourists is to do ghost tours with random surprise events. The one this time was a “hunt” or something. They feed people probably so no one sues them, since they’re too busy eyeing the good catering. Anyway, I know you don’t like turkey Keith, and you have that dairy allergy, so I brought you a ham.”

“Uh, thanks.” Keith said, confused. He walked forward and Lance smiled, handing him a sandwich.

After a few minutes of passing food around, Lance finally realized everyone’s odd expressions and rolled his eyes.

“Why does everyone look really freaked out? Did you get to see the ghosts or something?”


	4. Here's the Tea

Lance was busily flipping through Netflix at the hotel, eyes wandering as he had one hand in a big bag of kettle corn and the other tapping away on the remote. He was sitting in a rather odd position, wrapped almost entirely in a blanket, and glaring every so often at the AC for its unfortunate inability to go above 40 degrees.

Keith, on the other hand, came into their room suddenly with a heavy air of lethargy. He looked vaguely as if he was in pain, and Lance’s s/o radar immediately went off with a blaring siren. He turned off the TV and looked up.

“Keith? What’s wrong?”

Keith did not respond and instead flopped into Lance’s arms, laying down and forcing Lance to sink a bit into the sea of pillows stacked behind him. Keith buried his head in Lance’s t-shirt and said nothing.

“Keith?”

Lance’s firm voice made Keith just burrow even more, and he gripped Lance’s shirt with a fist.

“...Stomachache…”

Lance raised his eyebrows, then remembered their escapade into town earlier that morning. They had tried a poke bowl shack and then gone for a walk on the beach with Keith’s parents. It was a lovely, slightly cold day, and no one would have guessed that Keith would react to the meal. He seemed to be shivering slightly as Lance held him, and Lance rested his head on Keith’s, recognizing the faint scent of beach sand. He sighed with a slight smile.

“We have to both get sick, huh…? I wonder if we have anything. Coffee’s bad…”

“Front pocket. Heat some water.” Keith responded curtly.

By the magic of being his boyfriend, Lance knew that Keith was referring to his backpack pocket and immediately found an entire box of teas. He rolled his eyes and grinned.

“Peppermint, ginger, orrr-- chai?”

“Ginger, Lance.”

“I know, I was just making sure!”

“Mnnnn.” Keith muttered, shifting in irritation.

“Okay, okay. I’ll get you your tea.” Lance said with a joking air, getting up as he spoke.

Keith protested this move by moving with him, keeping an iron hold on his hug from before and lifting partially into the air. Lance paused in surprise and laughed, hugging him back. Keith’s cheeks flushed red at hearing the tinkling sound of Lance’s voice, and his grip tightened.

_ “I can’t get it for you if I don’t get up!” _

“Mnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.”

_ “Keith!” _

Lance rubbed his back gently and pried him off, laying him on the bed. Keith’s arm weakly reached out, and Lance held it before placing it at his side and covering him with the comforter. He then shuffled over, intentionally making static electricity with his socks as he made the tea and waited, turning Netflix back on and flipping through the options while the kettle boiled. He settled on  _ Moana _ before bringing the tea cup to Keith (with no less a dramatic flare than was to be expected).

“Handsome Prince Keith of Earth, can I get you anything else with that tea?”

Keith finally looked up at him with one eye, then seemed to almost smile.

Lance barely had time to react before Keith left him a soft kiss on the cheek, to which Lance naturally responded by having his face turn an ungodly shade of red. Keith’s next move was to simply bury himself back in the blankets. Lance’s loopy smile betrayed his emotions, and he gazed down at Keith. His hair fell messily over his face as he lay there peacefully, with long eyelashes and stunning features. It was strange - they had started out at odds, and even then were not always on the same page. But when Keith showed his love for Lance, it was always in such subtle, sweet ways that Lance felt shy and moved from the bottom of his heart. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched the movie, holding Keith’s hand until he was willing to accept the drink with shaky hands.

They leaned into each other, and Lance suddenly piped up, “You know that some people wrote that the crab and Maui were into each other?”

Keith gave him a side glance, seeming to sigh with his expression, and Lance burst into peals of laughter, spilling the popcorn more than he already had. He wrapped his arms around Keith cheerfully.

“I love ya.”

Keith smiled, fully this time. “I love you too, Lance...But don’t ever talk about that again.”


	5. Juice by the Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy season 8!!!!  
> I want to say this wholesome, aimless af fic won't be affected by me watching the new season but it might  
> I'll try to keep it in its own fanon world as I imagined it before, but either way I hope you enjoy and thank you for being part of this fandom!

Keith’s stomachache, unfortunately, had only gotten worse. And with their stacks of Garrison work on top of the immense physical discomfort, he seemed to shut down as soon as his head hit the pillow _(which Lance_ **_really_ ** _forgave because Keith had seen all of Moana beforehand)_.

The following morning was no better, and Keith’s expression was filled with pain. Lance brushed Keith’s hair out of his face and held his cheek until he relaxed. The two of them lay there together for a long time, taking in the heavy atmosphere of morning. Keith leaned into Lance’s warmth and protested again softly when Lance tried to sit up and get ready. They tussled lightly and playfully until Lance won and obtained his phone from the opposite night stand.

After entire minutes of non-stop phone tapping, he elected to join the others at the beach.

This, of course, was not because he didn’t want to stay.

Keith was rather introverted and probably needed time to himself - and besides, when Lance insisted on staying for the entire day, Keith curtly made a swatting motion without opening his eyes. Lance smiled somewhat sadly and left Keith a gentle kiss on the cheek before departing.

“Love you Keithster. Drink some tea, okay?”

Lance’s caring, low voice faded into silence, and Keith flopped onto his other side in an attempt to distract himself.

He liked being alone.

Really.

But ever since he had let someone into his inner self, Keith felt a strange, deep attachment to Lance that never quite faded. He would describe it as a string of yarn that pulled painfully if Lance ever wandered too far - and since Keith was only occasionally on missions with the Blade of Marmora (engaging in Galran diplomacy alongside his mom), the string didn’t pull often.

He wasn’t exactly attached to Earth, but his love for the paladins and Lance were just enough to keep him there.

Keith was a fan of spending time in his own head. If he had it his way, he’d bike in the dirt canyons of his home in Texas forever, and follow it up with a Whataburger stop on the way back, all the while just… sometimes thinking of nothing at all. If nobody was worried about him, he could keep it up for a week.

He figured he got it from Krolia, too - that Whataburger bit.

The thought made him smile just a little bit.

Spending too much time around the paladins was draining, and he sometimes needed entire days away, just laying in his room and being with himself. The paladins were everything  to Keith, but he wasn’t built to constantly be around people.

If he was being honest, he was still learning.

He did his best around Lance, who seemed to not only want but _need_ company. Keith wouldn’t say he really found it annoying, but that sometimes he needed to metaphorically clock out on his boyfriend and take a nap. Lance was fairly understanding, but the times he looked somewhat broken up about it still haunted Keith sometimes. He’d never found a way to say sorry about that.

He… didn’t really know how.

But he loved Lance very, very much.

Seeing Lance’s face in his mind made Keith’s face flush. He buried his own face in the pillow furiously.

When did he even fall for Lance?

He wasn’t sure about that.

But it was a feeling that overwhelmed Keith and made him burst at his seams.

Somewhere along the line, losing Lance became unbearable.

That was just how it was.

Keith’s eyes slowly closed again.

And when he rose, it was night once more. He slipped off the bed and went to his own phone, which had been laying on the long desk next to the window. The paladin chat had blown up, and Keith scrolled until he reached the most recent messages.

_2:49 AM_

**_Pidge_ ** _: wait wait wait, what happened???????????_

_2:50 AM_

**_Hunk_ ** _: it’s lance_

_2:51 AM_

**_Hunk_ ** _: he’s… uh_

_2:52 AM_

**_Pidge_ ** _: he’s what_

_2:53 AM_

**_Hunk_ ** _: we can’t find him_

_2:54 AM_

**_Pidge_ ** _: are you with krolia and texas?_

 **_Pidge_ ** _: where is shiro?!!!!!!!!_

_2:55 AM_

**_Hunk_ ** _: he’s with us too_

 **_Hunk_ ** _: we haven’t seen lance since after we ate at the rain forest thingy_

 **_Hunk_ ** _: i swore that volcano was real, was that just me?_

At this, Keith immediately threw his phone into his belt bag, grabbed his bayard, and hurried out into the night.

_Not again!_

Everyone ran around for hours up and down the sea wall, and even asking local shop owners once the sun had risen. No one had seen him, and the paladins were beginning to fear the worst. There was talk of another situation like Shiro’s, and the thought drove Keith so insane that he broke off from the group to cool off at a coconut juice stand.

It was here that he suddenly came across a sleeping figure at the table, as well as a rather old looking Galran lady who was humming while turning on her juice machines. Keith slammed his blade on the table and looked her in the eye.

“How long has my boyfriend been here?!”

She smiled cheekily and served him juice in the shell of a coconut without another word. She also set one next to Lance, whose phone lay half buried in the sand. Keith reached over and picked it up, glancing at Lance’s sleeping face as if making sure he was really alright.

Once Keith had ascertained that this was, in fact, a definitively alright Lance McClain, the young paladin shook his shoulder to wake him. Lance murmured sleepily, wrapping his hand around Keith’s with surprising accuracy. Keith’s angry mood dissipated instantly.

He squeezed Lance’s hand a single time, and this was finally enough to bring him back to reality. Lance blinked a few times and sat up, dusting sand out of his own hair and looking around. He gazed at Keith once his eyes settled on him, and his eyes glittered with love.

“Hey.”

Keith was going to cave again, but recalled what had happened and switched immediately to a grumpy frown.

He turned away, crossing his arms.

Lance seemed surprised and leaned forward.

“What? What did I do?!”

Keith didn’t answer.

And at that exact moment, everyone else had managed to come across the duo, looking rather shocked that they were on a coconut date.

“What is going on?” Shiro asked (with a strong implied meaning of _“Why the HELL are you two dating along when we’ve been looking for you?”)._

Keith looked at Lance pointedly for an answer, and Lance could only shrug.

“I came across this coconut juice stand after we ate dinner and I… I guess I just fell asleep here! But the juice tasted pretty weird. No offense.”

The juice vendor shrugged, amused.

The whole way back to the hotel room involved a lecture from Shiro and Coran’s interjections about the health benefits of the coconut equivalent back on Altea. The reactions were, of course, mixed, and Lance and Keith were exchanging glances full of worry, apology, and irritation. They eventually fell back, and Shiro was so passionate that he didn’t realize.

Krolia didn’t have the heart to tell him, and Texas just sighed, laughing to himself.

Keith looked at the ocean, and then at his feet, and then at Lance. Lance was gazing at him head on, his eyes still the same as before. Keith couldn’t handle it and looked back out at the wide gulf.

“Hey, Keith…”

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t tell you, but thanks for worrying about me. I know you’re not feeling great.”

“Mm.”

“And for last time. I could’ve died, and--”

At this, Keith seemed to snap. He stopped entirely and pulled Lance into his hold forcefully.

Keith kissed Lance so deeply that Lance felt his knees buckle. He gripped Keith’s shirt for balance, and they were so enraptured in the moment that they forgot they were supposed to be catching up. When they let go, breathing hard, the two of them couldn’t stop looking at each other.

 _“Don’t talk about that.”_ Keith said firmly, eyes blazing.

Lance blushed so hard that he beat his record the previous evening, and he buckled once again, landing weakly in Keith’s instinctive catch hold and smiling up at him guiltily.

“Sorry.”

“We should… head back.”

“Agreed.”

“And… I’m sorry too.”

“Huh? About what?”

“Not always being…”

“Yeah?”

“With...” Keith paused. He looked as if he was trying to figure out the best way to word it.

Lance’s smile revealed that he knew the answer, and he just patted Keith’s back as they started to walk on again.

“You’re okay, Keith.

Thank you.”


	6. Going Down the Aisle

“Guys, I know what we can do next.” Pidge called out, laying with her head hanging off the bed and her phone held up above her - it was _very_ clear to the paladins that she was about to summon chaos.

“What is it, Pidge?” Keith responded tiredly from the other end of the bed. He was sitting with his laptop perched on his crossed legs, listening to music. After the stomachache and missing Lance fiasco, he was very worn out and had been partially dissociated for the entire afternoon. Lance was asleep, his head on Keith’s shoulder and the occasional soft snort eminating from his general direction.

Pidge sat up very quickly, nearly falling over and resulting in Shiro getting up from his seat (and promptly sighing and sitting down once he realized she was alright).

“A food challenge! Like the ones on YouTube where people eat 4 bags of chips in 20 minutes.”

Keith’s eyebrows raised in marked irritation. “So… you want EVERY paladin to have a stomachache.”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “No, no! Well, we don’t have to do it today--”

“I’m in.” Krolia said from the second bed in the room. This caused everyone to jump, as she seemed to be reading a newspaper and sufficiently too distracted (her husband was brushing his teeth in the bathroom and was not present to stop his wife).

“Mom--”

“Keith, I make my own decisions.”

Keith had no words and immediately went back to typing away with his eye twitching.

Pidge smiled and waved her wallet in the air. “In that case it seems I have a contender - shall we?”

\--

The day had gotten particularly cold, and everyone stepped out in jackets to stop by the grocery store. H-E-B was never a warm place, really, and Keith felt a chill course through him once the doors wooshed open. Lance was sleepily trailing behind him, holding his hand. Shiro was pushing the cart and talking irritably to Pidge, as if arguing with her, and Krolia and Texas were also noisily debating the sanity of their decision. It seemed Texas was rightfully concerned, and eventually volunteered to join.

“Of course you would, honey.” Krolia said lovingly, clearly amused.

“If you go, I go.” Texas said, firm.

Lance jokingly made the barf noise motion with his free hand, and Keith turned to silence him. The group moved forward past the bakery aisle, and Lance pointed at a few of the cakes.

“Hey, Keith… which one would you want for our wedding?”

Pidge called out from near the muffins with a shit-eating grin. “Didn’t you just barf over Texas and Krolia?”

Lance promptly ignored her, and Keith flushed so much that his mother came over to check on him.

“Keith?”

“I’m okay, mom!”

“Alright, alright.” Krolia replied, patting his back. “What happened?”

“I just asked him what cake he’d want on our wedding!” Lance responded, hovering in concern.

Krolia smiled slowly, her eyes warm. “Is there one?”

“Well, not yet…”

The two of them couldn’t look each other in the eye, but their hands were still connected, and they stepped closer together yet again. When their eyes did meet, they both seemed to glow a little, and not long after stopped responding to the others. Everyone continued on in amusement until Lance broke out of the daze and saw that they were alone next to the bakery case. A friendly looking old Galran lady who looked suspiciously like the one from the coconut stand was waving a baking sheet in the air and laughing.

“I can give you a cake on the house for your business! Which would you like?”

Lance looked up in surprise. “Are you serious?”

She tapped her cap and grinned. “Of course! Well, pick and hurry up. Don’t want people thinking I’ll do this favor for anybody.”

Keith was still largely out of it, but he stared thoughtfully at the case until a blue sheet cake with a gorgeous blue night sky on it caught his eye. He pointed silently at it while Lance was distracted by a grandma asking for directions, and the baker soon slipped it neatly over to them with a shiny plastic covering.

Not long after, Keith spotted a tiny plastic animal on a different cake and whispered, “Do you have more of the...cows?”

\--

“Are 10 bags enough?” Krolia asked, already reaching for another and checking the list.

“Plenty.” Pidge answered, her glasses gleaming in excited anticipation.

“We should find the others.” Texas added, crossing his arms and looking around the empty aisle.

_“One more thing.”_

Before anyone could stop her, Pidge soared down the aisle on the cart, causing an employee to run and dodge her as she slammed right into the selection of cheese and caused the different bags to fall in a heap on the ground. Krolia and Texas hurried over to cover her tracks, all of them trying excessively hard to not burst into laughing fits.

“Sorry!”

“It’s okay. With Lance in the family, we’ve seen this all before.”

“Not surprised.”

At that moment, Keith appeared with an ecstatic Lance, holding a beautiful sky cake with a single plastic cow in the corner of it. Everyone walked over in curiosity as Shiro, Allura, and Coran rejoined them from the wine aisle with a few bottles.

“Well, is this the wedding cake?” Krolia questioned with a smile.

“I can see it all now!” Coran shouted dramatically, wiping a tear away. “Beautiful!”

Allura held up a bottle. “Nunville is perfect for the occasion.”

“Better iron my suit.” Shiro noted to himself, looking at the ceiling.

“I hope they have a candy bar there.” Pidge thought out loud dreamily.

“Who decided the wedding was happening for real already?!” Lance protested, his face still flushed.

“I mean… we could.” Keith said very quietly.

Lance whipped his head to look at his boyfriend in shock, saying nothing for a good minute before he took both of Keith’s hands in his. The poor cake flipped and landed in an unfortunate pile of frosting on the floor.

“You’d do that?”

Keith looked at Lance head on, his voice sure. “Yeah.”

Lance seemed to bubble over with emotions as he processed the situation, his face soon contorting with his tears. He leapt forward and hugged Keith so tightly he was able to lift the red paladin entirely off the ground. The others began cheering in celebration, causing a myriad of confused fellow customers to stare at their group in awe.

“We clearly didn’t prepare for this.” Keith murmured, a soft smile on his face as he gazed at the ground.

“I’ll get a ring! 10 rings. 20!” Lance replied, his words coming out so fast that they ran together.

Keith could only laugh through a hint of his own tears.

“This is happening!” Pidge quipped in amazement.

“And we came in here for chips...” Krolia added, clearly charmed.

As the group left, everyone seemed to be in much higher spirits. It was decided that the wedding would be Christmas Day in the Garrison master ballroom, and their family members were notified within hours. Their wedding was quickly the talk of social media, and all of their commanding officers were congratulating them for days upon their return.

The hectic, happy atmosphere was only starting - where would the grooms-to-be end up?


	7. Fireflies

“Keith?”

Lance’s soft voice drifted from the blinding light of the doorway. Keith Kogane was in the middle of falling asleep on his couch, and he squinted as Lance’s figure emerged from the bedroom.

Krolia and Texas had gone out for the weekend. It had been months since their Galveston Island adventures, and the couple trusted their son-in-law with their room on the promise that he’d cook and clean while they were gone. Keith, on the other hand, had been out on a late night walk and hadn’t felt the motivation to make it the few steps further - his eyelids fluttered as he tiredly pulled a blanket over his head.

In his quick movement, however, he knocked a framed photo of his and Lance’s wedding procession off of the windowsill and onto the carpet. The photo depicted Allura gracefully drifting down the aisle with Coran at her side, both holding heaps of flowers in every shade of purple. Pidge was behind them with Hunk, holding the ring on a pillow, doubled over laughing with tears in their eyes. Shiro was standing next to a nervous Lance, whose face was glowing with joy and nervous excitement, and holding a book which everyone joked later was a prop to make him look more official (he officiated the wedding, as per the couple’s request). And finally there was Keith, walking with a nearly identical expression to Lance, but with an expression that indicated a sense of determination. The whole scene was in the bright, gigantic Garrison ballroom, which was overflowing as much as Coran and Allura’s arms with colors and beautiful plants provided by the Holt family. The picture represented the hope the paladins had carried in such a celebration, and this framed photo was, interestingly enough, the only copy.

Dropping this image no doubt woke Keith up a bit more, and he jerked out his arm to reach for it. Lance rushed over in an attempt to help, picking the photo up and handing it over gently.

“Here. It’s all good. Nothing broke.”

Keith’s expression, however, was remorseful. He turned very slowly to return the photo to its place, lethargic and a bit off balance. Lance used his arm to support Keith, rubbing his back and gazing at him in concern.

“Keith, is everything okay?”

Keith paused, as if wondering how he should answer the question, his brow furrowing out of stress. His expression then went flat, and he looked out the open window at the bright desert moon.

“I’ve… been having a weird feeling. Like something is off.”

Lance felt a sudden pang in his chest at Keith’s words, but something in his heart was desperately trying to dismiss his fears.

“It’s been happening since before. As if the things that are happening aren’t reality. Like maybe I’m dreaming everything that’s been happening. I can’t-- can’t explain it.”

Lance’s hand moved to hold Keith’s, his expression sure.

“You’re not dreaming what’s been happening.”

Keith shook his head a bit furiously, irritated. “No, no, that’s not it-- it’s… like I get a really bad feeling when something is happening between me and mom. And it’s started to happen with you, too. I have no idea what it means.”

Lance’s grip loosened slightly as he thought to himself. "I dunno. It could just be that you’re afraid of something subconsciously, but… have you been sleeping okay?”

Keith smiled a little at the question, his face brightening very slightly. Lance was always quick to fall asleep compared to Keith, who would spend hours just laying in the darkness before he finally started to snore.

“Not really.”

Lance stood up, careful not to knock anything over as he tiptoed to the kitchen and reached into a cabinet. When he turned around, he was holding a bottle of melatonin pills.

“We can’t solve everything in this one sec, but maybe this guy can help you for now. Rest and we can talk about it in the morning.”

“Lance, I don’t think that’s…” Keith’s voice trailed off. He hesitated when he saw Lance’s genuine concern and smiled a little bit wider, accepting the bottle and a glass. “Just one.”

Lance looked on with a warmth that made Keith feel happily overwhelmed. In response, he downed the pill with water so quickly that he started to choke. Lance rushed over a second time, holding Keith until he was able to recover, a tinkling laugh once again coming from his chest. Keith, not knowing quite what else to do, hugged his husband with a ginger grip and closed his eyes. Nearly an hour passed in peaceful silence, with only the gentle sound of a fan running in the room.

“Can you stay out here?” Keith requested sleepily.

“The bed is just over there, Keithster, we can make it.”

“Mnnnnnnn.”

“Keith, not again!”

Before Lance could properly get up, Keith had fallen asleep where he sat, pinning Lance in place on the floor beside him. Lance could only smile and roll his eyes, settling into Keith’s warmth and leaning against the side of the couch in the moonlight.

“Here… here is good, too.”


End file.
